FAQ

Monday, June 16, 2014

PROMO: Lily Love by Maggi Myers

Caroline used to have it all: she was madly in love with her husband, Peter, and they worshiped their beautiful baby girl. But as Lily grows into a toddler, Caroline notices that her daughter seems to live and act with a disconnect, and soon the perfect future Caroline had envisioned, along with her marriage, begin to crumble. Now she and Peter are no longer lovers, they’re plaintiffs in the throes of divorce while still struggling to care for Lily. After years of blame and overwhelming despair, Caroline’s chance encounter with a stranger at University Hospital opens her eyes to the prospect of accepting new support, new loves, and new dreams.

From the acclaimed author of The Final Piece comes a story of a family broken and unable to cope with a daughter’s disability. And a mother who finds that letting go of the life she imagined may be the only way to get to the life she was meant for.

Kismet : a power that is believed to control what happens in
the future; Fate

No matter how hard you work, no
matter how good you are, life isn’t obligated to give you a fairy-tale ending.

Nothing in life is guaranteed. Not even life itself. Things
are thrown at us throughout our lives. Some people get the worst of it, some
barely touched by it. Some people are able to make it through. Getting bruised
and scared along the way, falling down more time than they are up but coming out
a completely different person. Then there are those who crumble under the
pressure and to protect themselves, they run. You know how that saying goes..
When it rains, it pours.

Caroline married her college sweetheart. They had a great
life, a great love and eventually a baby girl they adored more than life
itself. As Lily grew, Caroline sees that she is missing a few milestones. When
she takes her daughter in for a speech evaluation, her world is turned upside
down.

“The day I found out that Lily had a developmental disability, I was
completely blindsided.

I shut down and pushed everyone out of my life. I guess my point is, I
know how easy it is to disappear inside your grief.”

Divorce : the ending of
a marriage by a legal process

: a complete separation
between two things

Caroline her dream of having a perfect family is shattered.
She is now going through a divorce. Frustrated at the lack of answers in
regards to her daughters diagnosis; and
exhausted from the struggles and the challenges that go along with caring for
her. Caroline can’t help but blame herself.

Acceptance is part of growth, but
damn if it doesn’t hurt like hell.

While taking a much needed coffee break, she runs into a
gorgeous and stranger and her world is rocked again. Tate *sighs* gets
Caroline. He sees her like no one has seen her before. He gets her and it
scares the crap out of her. There is something about him and she just can’t
walk away from it. She knows if she doesn’t at least try, she will always have
the regret.

I couldn’t have said it better
myself The world is but a speck of light beneath us on this tightrope. Whether
there’s a net to catch me is no longer material. The fall is inevitable, and
when it comes, I want to fall feeling just like this.

Tate see’s Caroline and she is a breath of fresh air for
him. He can see her pain, he can see the walls she has placed around herself.
She is cautious, she is guarded. He also sees how beautiful she is. Although
the way they meet is not typical. He knows that he wants to spend more time
with her, to get to know her.

“You make the rest of the world
disappear.”

Despite the voice in her head, Caroline wants to give it a
chance. Tate has opened her eyes to things she thought weren’t possible
anymore. She also finds that he has also opened up her heart.

How could he want to start a relationship with a single mother of a
special-needs child? This has

disaster” written all over it. So
why can’t I stay away?”

Both struggling with their problems, they are able to guide
each other, support each other. Tate sees how guarded Caroline is and helps her
to open up. You know what they say, honesty is the best policy. Caroline finds
herself confiding in him. Her stranger, a man she is falling for, a man who has
accepted everything, a man who barely knows her but is able to see her for who
she is and how strong she is. A women he can’t seem to stop thinking about.

“I don’t know, and I never will
unless you tell me. I asked about Lily because she’s a part of who you are, and
I want to know every part of you, Caroline. Not just the parts you want me to
see. All of them.”

I loved this book. It was just so real and honest. Being a
parent is hard enough but adding a child with disabilities in the mix, I couldn’t
imagine. Caroline is vulnerable but so strong at the same time. She is carrying
a load of guilt. Her husband bailed on her when things got to rough. Lily is
such a beautiful character and although she has her developmental challenges,
she will just melt your heart. Then you have Tate. He is a freaking dream come
true. How can one NOT fall for him.

It is so hard to put this book into words because this is
real, things like this happen every day. Talk about putting a marriage to the
test. Caroline falls but continues to get back up. When she meets Tate, he changes
her world for the good. We all wish we could go back in time to change that one
thing we could do differently. Life isn’t fair but at the same time and for
reasons we will never understand our lives on put on a set path. The path that
was set for Caroline started out good and turned into chaos with heartache and
struggles but it ultimately led her to happiness. A happiness she didn’t really
know could exist.

Maggi Myers did a fantastic job capturing the emotions. This
story is about strength, acceptance, forgiveness and learning to let go of the “what
if’s” and focusing on the now. Realizing that things aren’t as bad as they seem
and that it is okay to feel weak, it is okay to ask for help and it is
definitely okay to cry and to be angry. It shows you that you need to move on
from the past, let it go so that you can enjoy the present and look forward for
what lies ahead.

I fear that I haven’t done this review justice. This story
is beautiful, powerful and romantic. Despite the not so pretty things that life
throws out way, it can also bring people into your lives that make your journey
worth every painful moment.

Born in West Des Moines, IA and raised in Miami, FL, I have an appreciation for the heartland and really good cuban food.

I want to write stories that make people think. The things you thought you knew about other people and their lives? I want to twist those perceptions and make you question everything.

I am a big fan of the underdog. The one that everyone else has written off? That's where my heart is and where my most inspired writing happens.